I heard a quiet “Yes?”coming from the bench beside me rather than the distant RV.
“Oh.Hi.Can you come in?I wanted to update people on last night.”
Nodding, he stood, following me in.“How are you feeling today?”
I put my hand in the crook of his arm.“I’m good.”
He looked down at my gloved hand and smiled.Wait.Did he know what was under my glove?
Mom was talking to Elizabeth and Hester.I glanced over at Declan, and he nodded.That man was handy.I hadn’t thought to call Mom, but he clearly had.
Once we were all assembled, I went through what happened with the mayor.Mom, Elizabeth, Hester, and the kids were all shocked and asking questions.Declan, Carter, and Bracken had been here, so knew what I was going to say.What they didn’t know was the second part of the evening.
“Remember the vision about me being hit by a car?”I asked Mom and Faith.
Faith nodded, looking worried.
“Well, that happened?—”
“Almost,” Declan clarified.
“Almost.”I told them what happened with Milena and her car.
“Are you shittin—sorry.”Carter tipped his head to Mom, Hester, and Elizabeth.“Are you kidding me.After all the cops left, that psycho tried to run you down?”
“I thought I heard something,” Bracken said.“I was in the shower.When I went out afterward to investigate, I saw patrol cars and an ambulance.I assumed there’d been a traffic accident.”He shook his head in disgust.“Did she survive the crash?”
I leaned into Declan, who wrapped an arm around me.“She’s in police custody with her twin and grandmother.I wouldn’t be smiling this morning if I’d killed someone last night.”
Bracken held up a hand.“That wasn’t what I meant.She was the one driving out of control with her lights off.Such thoughtless recklessness.I don’t understand it.”
Hester, who was standing near Bracken, reached out to pat his arm.
“Wait,” Frank said.“So the Swansandthe serial killer were all locked up yesterday?We should have a party.”
Declan squeezed me.“We should.”
I glanced up at him.He was waiting to see if I was going to tell people.“There’s something else we should celebrate too,” I told them all as I took off my left glove and held up my hand.
Chaos ensued.Everyone wanted to hug me, but they knew they couldn’t, so they hugged Declan, who then passed the hug on to me.It worked for us.
Carter was the one who noticed it was opening time.Frank and Faith jumped into action, opening the point-of-sale system.One of them stayed at the register while the other filled in a little.Luckily, since it had slowed down last night, they’d already gotten a lot of the prep work for today taken care of.
I showed Mom and Elizabeth the nursery and discussed my plans, walking them through what would soon be Bracken’s apartment.Both were excited and wanted to discuss wedding plans.I told them I’d only been engaged a couple of hours and wasn’t ready for planning.The way the two looked at each other, I was pretty sure planning would begin today.
We walked back out to the café, where Hester was brewing Bracken a cup of tea.Mom and Elizabeth decided to go get lunch so they could put their heads together on the whole wedding deal.I told Hester she should go too.
When Mom and Elizabeth quickly agreed and asked her to join them, I could see Hester was conflicted.On one hand, she was excited to be included.On the other, she had a job here.
I went behind the counter, untied her apron, and tied it around my own waist.“I’ve got it.You guys go have a nice lunch.”
“Are you sure?”Hester asked.
“I absolutely am.”
She looked down at my gloved hand.“Can I see it up close?”
I whipped off my glove and all three leaned in to get a better look.
